


Freezing

by puffintalia



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Delirium, Ficlet, Gen, Hypothermia, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:08:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29262501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puffintalia/pseuds/puffintalia
Summary: For the prompt game on the Nordics Appreciation Society discord: freezing.The Arctic is vast and bleak, its frozen ground offering no shelter from the call of something... beyond.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Freezing

Cold. All around him, a dreadful, bone-chilling cold that seeped into his soul, sucking out the life and leaving nothing but brittle frost. Around him, the land was bleak. Barren. Sharp rocks jutted out from the ice, the only sign of the land beneath. No plants had survived the winter, and any wood that still remained was frozen under the snow, too deep to reach, too wet to burn. 

At least the exertion of digging could warm him up somewhat, Lukas thought. No. Better to conserve his energy. What little was left from that awful chill that stiffened his muscles, trapped him in his makeshift shelter. No caves, no cover. The only thing saving him from the howling winds was a thin blanket from his pack, wrapped on one end around a rock and on the other weighed down by the rest of his belongings. As the gale picked up, so did it - whipping from its restraints like a hawk from its cage, soaring off into the night.

Faint lights danced across the sky, so far, so cold and unreachable. Hypnotic. They shone like the gates of Heaven, calling his name. Before he realised what he was doing, Lukas climbed to his feet, pack and the scraps of food he’d found forgotten. The lights were calling for him.

His steps were slow and clumsy, his toes frozen solid inside his boots. When he extended a hand toward the stars, his fingers were stiff, unmoving. Long, dragged footprints followed him as he walked. Slow, but determined. The biting cold meant nothing, even as it gnawed at his hands and face, sinking its claws deep into his heart. One step more. One step further. The tundra resisted his passage. White snowflakes clung to his lashes, clouding his vision. His lips had long turned blue.

It didn’t matter, Lukas thought, that the Arctic hated him so. Not when the warm light of the aurora loved him so much, was so close, so near, just within arm’s reach. If he just reached out, he could…

His hand missed and the lights slipped from his grasp, mocking his hubris as they faded into the night. Only the stars looked down now. Cold, cruel, unreachable. The world was black and dim, and with a start, Lukas realised he could no longer see his feeble camp. Instead, the frozen desert stretched around him, unending as far as the eye could see. No lights, no food, no company, nothing but the wind’s haunting song, calling him to sleep. As his eyes fluttered closed, he swore he could hear the lights again, chanting his name.


End file.
